i3 Detroit creative center opens in downtown Royal Oak

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i3 Detroit, a new space for creatively inclined people, is about to open in downtown Royal Oak.

The cooperative is a communal space for makers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. The 1,500-square-foot location at 322 E Fourth St. has room for heavy tools, electronics, and a studio/lounge. It's comparable to Detroit's Russell Industrial Center, but members don't have individual work areas.

"We're more like a locker, less like a small office," says Nick Britsky, director at large for i3 Detroit.

Right now, i3 Detroit has 13 paid members and a five-member executive board. It needs 24 members to break even. Additional members would allow the cooperative to buy bigger and better equipment, maybe even a bigger space. Britsky and his partners chose downtown Royal Oak for its central location in southeast Oakland County. They plan to hold an open house on Oct. 3.

i3 is an national non-profit that got its start in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. It encompasses a wide range of interests and professions, such as machinists, programmers, artists, and electrical engineers. It also hosts public classes and workshops on woodworking, Linux, amateur radio, telecom architecture, computer programming, and automobile repair.